Player-piano



T. RANDOLPH.

PLAYER PLANO.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET S.

WITNESS:

ATTORNEY.

T. RANDGLPH. PLAYER"P|ANO.

APPLICATION FILED IuLY Is, IaIs.

rammed Jan.18,1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C O O. O

O O O O r|\.ll\I./lf /\1lr\^Ull 5 IO Mw@ O O O O 2 O @o WITNESS;

A TTORNE Y.

T. RANDOLPH.

PLAYER PIANO.

APPLICATloN FILED lum/18,1919.

1,366,277. .Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I N V ENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

IVITIYESS:

UNITED STATES THOMAS RANDOLPH, OF BUTTE, MONTANA.

PLAYER-PIANO.

Specicaton of Letters Patent. i

PatentedrJ an. 18, 1921.

Application led J'uly 18, 1919. Serial No. 311,814.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, THOMAS RANDOLPH, a citizen -of Vthe United States, residing at Butte, in the` county of Silver Bow and State of Montana, have invented new and useful Improvements in- Player-Pianos, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to player pianos and has for its object the provision of means associated with the mechanism of a player piano whereby upon rewinding of a record roll an air blast will be discharged through the holesl in the tracker bar for effectuallyV removing from these holes any accumulation ofV fragments of paper from the roll so that these holes'will be kept absolutely unobstructed so that the player action will not be interfered with and so that silent notes will be prevented.

An important object is the provision of a device of this character which is absolutely automatic in action and which is set in action by movement of the reverse lever which must be moved for rewinding a roll afterthe same has been played.

Another object is the provision of a device lof this characterwhichmay be made as 'an attachment to any existing player piano action, it being understood that minor variations in the details of construction. must necessarily be made to accommodate the device to the different makes of actions.

An additional object is the provision of a device of this character which will be comparatively simple and inexpensive in manufacture and installation, which will be highly efficient in use, durable in service, and a general improvement in the art.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention consists in the details of construction to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated yin .the accompanying drawings, in which- Y Figure 1 is a rear elevation ofa suiiicient portion ofa player action to show my device in position in the rear of the spool box,

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through `the spool box looking down upon my device, c

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view through the spool box and my device, .showing the parts of'my device arranged in the position occupied by them while a roll 1s being played,

F ig. 4 is a similar view showing the parts inthe position occupied when a roll is being rewound,

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional View through the spool box and my device, showing the means connected with the rewind lever for shifting the parts of my device,

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional View on the line G-G of Fig. 4:, Y

Fig. '7 is a vertical longitudinal sectional 65 view through my device, and

T he remaining figures are detail views.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the letter A designates the spool box of a player action within which is mounted the tracker bar B over which the records are drawn and which is provided with the usual holes communicating with nipples C upon which are ordinarily connected the rubber tubes leading to the player action. E designates the air pipe leading 'from the bellows to the mechanism for turning the roll in either direction, and F designates the lever which is moved from one position to another for causing the record roll to be S0 driven in one direction as in playing and in the other direction when being rewound.

In carrying out my invention I provide at the rear of the spool box A an elongated rectangular casing 15 which is secured in S5 position by any desired means and which is provided at one end with a pipe 16 having attached thereto a suitable hose 17 connected with and communicating with some convenient -portion of the exhaust pipe E. This casing 15 is of inverted trough shape in cross section, that is to say, its bottom is open and disposed within this open bottom is a plate 18 adapted to close the bottom of the casing and this plate has upwardly inclined sides and ends and is provided at its lower edges with flanges 19 bearing against the lower edges of the casing .15. 1f desired, the plate 18 may be coveredI with skin at its sides where itengages the lower edges of the casing in order to make an absolutely air-tight joint. This plate 18 has drilled therethrough a plurality of vertically extending holes 20, preferably one hundred (100) in number so as to be at least equal 105 in the tracker bar operating notes but it fre- 110.

quently occurs that additional holes are provided for operating the automatic means for sustaining notes, rendering a staccato effect, or for various other automatic controls provided in certain player actionsv By providing a hundred holes in the plate 18, I take care of all these various holes in the tracker bar. of the plate 18 and communicating with the respective holes 20, are downwardly extending nipples which are Tshaped and which include each a vertical branch 21 and a horizontal branch 22. lVhen my device is installed the vertical branches 21 of these nipples are connected by suitable rubber tubes 23 with the player action, details of which are not shown as being non-essential to the proper disclosure of the present invention, and the horizontal branches 22 of the nipples are connected by tubes 24 with the nipples C of the tracker bar. V

Disposed upon the top of the plate 18 within the casing` 15 and adapted to cover all the holes is a bar 25 which has its sides slotted, as shown, and which has its sides and bottom covered with skin 2G held in place by suit-able wedges 27 driven into the slots. The purpose of this skin is to form an air-tight connection when the bar is lying flat upon the plate 18. EX- tending downwardly below the bottom face of the bar 25 are a plurality of pins 28 which fit loosely within holes 29 formed in the top of the plate 18 to constitute a hinged joint whereby the bar 25. may be tilted upon one edge so ask to be disposed out of engage; ment with the plate 18. This tilted position is shown in^ Fig.k 4. In order to control the position of the bar 25, I provide a plurality of pins 30 extending upwardly from the bar 25 aloner its center line and also provide a longitudinally extending rod 31 disposed within the upper portion of the cas-` ing 15 and mounted tor slidable movement within suitable guidesy 32 within the casing.

@ne end of the rod 31 extends, through and fits snufly within a, hole 33 formed in the end of the casingT 15 provided with the pipe 16. Secured upon this rod 31 at suitable intervals are wedge-shaped plugs 34 which are adapted upon longitudinal movement of the. rod 31 to engage the pins 30 and move the same laterallvfor effecting tilting` movement of the bar 25. The blocks, 34 are preferably Iraphited to make them have free sliding movement with the pins 30 and the bar 31 may also be lgraphited' where it passes through the guides This rod 31 extends a considerable distance beyond the end of the casing 15 and is connected, as shown at 35, with the lever F which mayT be moved to effect rewindiing of the renard roll.`

In the operation of the device, when the parts are. in the position shown in Fig. 3,

that is when the bar 25. is. seated. upon and Connected, with the underside closes the holes 20 in the plate 18, suction through the holes in the tracker bar B passes through the nipples C, the tubes 24, horizontal branches 22 of the nipples on the plate 18, through the lower portions of the vvertical branches 2l of these nipples and to the player action and the action is exactl' the same es if my device were Ilot applied, that is to say, my attachment is at this time not in operation in any way. When a roll has been played and it is desired to rewind the same, it is of course well known that the lever F must be moved' to shift the clutch on the mechanism for turning the spool. lhen this lever F is moved, the rod 31 is moved longitudinal-ly within the casing 15 and the wedge blocks 34 will engage against the pins 30 and will move the same aterally, as shown in Fig. 4, which will result in tilting the bar 25 upon the pins 28 as pivots so that the holes 20 in the plate 18 will be uncovered. By virtue of the connection by means of the hose 17, of the pipes 16 with the exhaust pipe E, suction will then be produced through the holes in the tracker bar, nipples C, tubes 24, horizontal branches 22 of the nipples on the plate 18, through the vertical branches 21 of these nipples, through the holes 20, through the casing 15, pipes 16, and hose 17.4 This suction, which continues as long as the roll is being rewound, will result in thorough cleaning out of not only the holes in the tracker bar and the nipples and tubes connected therewith, but also through the tubes leading to the player action. Any dust or dirt and any accumulation of fragments of paper drawn from the openings n the roll at the edges of the openings, will then be moved from the entire player action and will be drawn into the feeders or bellows of the. player piano, this dust and the like coming out though the openings in the feeders, After the roll is rewound and the lever F is shifted to its normal or playing position, the bar 25 will return to its normal position, covering the holes 20 in the plate 18 so that there will be no passage of air through the casing.

From the` foregoing description and a study of the drawings it will be apparent that l have thus provided a simple device which may be readily attached to any existing make of player'piano action or which may be built into an action in its manufacture, which will effectively operate to clean the tubes and passages of the action whereby to prevent accumulation of dust and dirt which causes interference with the action, frequently resulting in silent notes, the great disadvantage of player pianos, the clevice being thoroughl automaticv in action and operatingr every time that a roll is rewound. In view of the simplicity of the device it will be apparent that there is little likelihood of derangement of any of the parts, and it will also be apparent that the device will be durable in service.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is of course to be understood that I reserve the right to make such changes in the form, construction, and arrangement of parts as will not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The combination in a player piano, of a casing having in its bottom a plurality of holes in communication with the pneumatic system of the player piano, a bar in said casing and normally resting on said bottom to close the holes therein, a conduit in communication with the interior oi' said casing, and means for swinging said bar away from said bottom, said means comprising pins on the bar, a rewind lever, a longitudinally movable rod in the casing and connected with the rewind lever, and wedge members on said rod to act laterally against said pins on longitudinal movement of the rod.

2.. The combination in a player piano, of a casing having in its bottom a plurality of holes in communication with the pneumatic system of the player piano, a tiltable bar normally resting on said bottom to close the said holes, a conduit in communication with t the interior of said casing and leading to the exhaust, a longitudinally movable rod in the casing, coperating means on the tiltable bar and the rod whereby endwise movement of the latter will be attended by tilting of the former, and manual means to move said rod.

3. In a player piano, a casing disposed rearwardly of the spool box and having its bottom formed as a plate provided with a plurality of holes at least equal in number to the number of holes in the tracker bar of the player action, the first-named holes being in communication with the pneumatic system of the player piano, T-shaped nipples communicating with said holes and having one branch connected with the tubes extending from the tracker bar and the other branch leading to the exhaust, a bar disposed within said casing and normally resting upon said plate and closing the holes therein, a pipe connected with said casing and with the exhaust pipe of the action whereby to produce suction within said casing, and means operable upon movement of the rewind lever for moving said bar out of engagement with the top of said plate, said last named means comprising pins extending upwardly from said bar, a rod longitudinally movable within said casing and connected with said lever, and wedge members carried by said rod and engaging said pins upon movement of said lever to its rewind position for tilting said bar upon one edge.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

THOMAS RANDOLPH. 

